The King of Ithaca
by greysfanhp
Summary: Saved, on their way back home after the events of Yamatai Lara, exhausted, contemplates Odysseus as Sam takes care of her. Lara/Sam and spoilers for the Odyssey I guess.


**First time attempting to write Lara so apologies for any rookie mistakes in characterization. I have a feeling studying for all my classics exams is going to be freakin' hard when reading anything about really old stuff makes me think of Lara (and then by extension Sam, and then it's just downhill from there) so I figured if I'm going to waste away my study time writing fanfiction I might as well try and cram in as much information for my exams xD I do apologize, haha.**

For once her brilliant mind was empty. No plans, no traumas, no information fought for dominance in her thoughts. They were saved. Nothing next to this was remotely as astounding to warrant spending any energy on. Her body no longer held the the capacity to care for anything else other than the fact that the woman in front of her was safe, and could do no more than stand there with cracked ribs, bleeding wounds and pounding burns and stare at her. Sam's mouth was moving quickly, Lara noticed this, but lacked the ability to comprehend the foreign sounds that came out of her mouth so instead chose to ignore them for the far more gratifying task of cataloguing every shade of grey in her eyes.

The ship rocked steadily and Sam's warm hand intertwined with her own and pulled her to a small bathroom in the lower deck. Lara's body groaned with visceral regret at each movement but she was still incapable to process the pain beyond the understanding that she had to stop moving. She was too distracted with the crystal clear image of Sam - it was if this was the first time she had ever seen the other girl properly! But surely this couldn't be the first time she'd noticed the complex acrobatic routines her muscles danced to as she moved around the little room.

Lara stared at Sam as she filled a bucket with water, convinced that the way she felt was exactly the same sailor's feel when they dive into the seas depths just to hear more of the sirens songs, although instead of drowning, Lara was sure she was being saved. Although in all fairness, the sailors probably felt the same way as their last few breaths of life escaped in pretty bubbles dancing to the sirens songs.

Sam sat her down and removed the younger girls ratty clothing. In a detached manner, Lara noted she was being bathed with the same royal treatment as a king from the old Grecian myths. She had never been a big fan of the Odyssey, having always preferred the more human Aeneas over Homer's hero but for once, Lara felt sympathy for the King of Ithaca; she at last understood the exhaustion Ulysses had gone through when he washed up on the shores of Scheria and briefly wondered what she would give for Athene to come down from the Olympus and fill her eyes with sleep.

God... it had been years since she'd thought about the Odyssey. Definitely not since that god awful Greek exam she had to sit during her A levels where she had to translate an unseen piece of Homer's masterpiece. She remembered cursing Homer to the deepest pits in Hades once her ninety minutes were up and vowing to dedicate her academic career to any field of classical history were she wouldn't have to come across the frankly grating character that was Ulysses. But now, after fighting and defeating an army of mythical creatures of her own, she felt a sense of camaraderie with the old King.

"He cheated, though." Lara rasped out.

"Who did, sweetie?" Sam asked soothingly as she sluiced her head and shoulders until all the painful weariness was gone from her limbs.

"Odysseus. God, even Aeneas. Those bastards had it easy compared to us."

"Why's that?"

"Whenever things got a little too messy some god, usually their mother, would come down from the heavens and sort things out so they wouldn't have to break a sweat. We weren't favoured by the gods like they were, hell, in any case we were probably in their bad books."

Sam smiled, bandaging a cut on Lara's thigh. "What was that thing Circe said to Odysseus when he didn't fall under her magic? Wasn't it something like 'I am sure you are Odysseus, the man whom nothing defeats.' Should we change that to, 'you are Lara Croft, the woman whom nothing defeats'?"

Lara smiled bitterly. "I always hated Odysseus, you know? I hated how he sacrificed everyone and everything in his way to accomplish his mission. His end justified every bloodshed and heartbreak he left behind. I always hated how his boldness stood alone amongst the wreck and he was oblivious to the wreck around him. It was such a selfish story, and I could never forgive him for it." Sam looked curiously up at Lara. "But now I can't shake off the feeling I've become a lot like him."

"Oh sweetie," Sam murmured as she cupped Lara's fresh face. "You are not Odysseus. You did what you could not to save yourself, but to save others. Your actions where made out of kindness, not pride." She leaned in and kissed her forehead. "And that is far more noble and heroic than anything Odysseus could've ever dreamt of doing. You are not Odysseus, Lara. Don't you ever think you are."

Sam finished attending to every last wound and gently clothed the younger girl with warm fresh clothes and half carried her to the small cot in the room outside. Lara snuggled into Sam's absolving arms and exhaled in relief as her strong arms secured her from the outside world. Athene was right, Lara mused as she drifted off, sleep was the surest way to relieve the exhaustion caused by so much toil, although thankfully Athene wasn't the only one capable of sealing eyelids.

**I have a serious love/hate relationship with the Odyssey... Anyhow, haha, I hope you enjoyed that small little snippet of procrastination ;) **


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